


Sympathetic

by ElAlmaDelMar



Series: A/B/O/tober 2020 [6]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Usopp, M/M, Slightly nontraditional alpha/beta/omega, alpha sanji
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26868748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElAlmaDelMar/pseuds/ElAlmaDelMar
Summary: "This isn't  supposed to happen!" Usopp wailed. "I'm abeta!"A/B/O/tober Day 6: Sympathetic Cycles
Relationships: Sanji/Usopp
Series: A/B/O/tober 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947415
Comments: 6
Kudos: 128
Collections: A/B/O/tober 2020





	Sympathetic

"This isn't supposed to happen!" Usopp wailed. "I'm a _beta!_ " 

He sat on the infirmary cot, his hands restless — flicking between rubbing his forearms as though cold, sketching restlessly along his thighs, toying with the cot blanket, rubbing at his flushed cheeks. Unable to stay still, restless and twitchy. With his complexion, the flush on his cheeks was difficult to make out, but undeniably present. A mild fever. 

All classic symptoms of an omega heat. 

Chopper, facing him, frowned. "It… _could_ be a case of late presentation," he said slowly. "But this late? That would be highly unusual…" 

"I'm _nineteen._ No one presents that late!" Usopp pressed both hands to his feverish cheeks. "Besides! I don't have a- er- those parts!" If anything, he got even redder, though Chopper could smell the difference more than see it. 

"Are you sure? If you're only just starting to present, it could be… um." There was no way to see a blush under Chopper's fur, but he ducked his head in a show of embarrassment. "It might be just starting to develop. Maybe I should examine-" 

"No!" To his profound humiliation, Usopp's voice cracked, jumping two octaves in a sudden panic. "No, no, no, that's okay! I'm pretty sure there's nothing new there!" 

He couldn't have said for sure whether Chopper looked more concerned or relieved. Both were definitely represented on his expressive little face. "If you're sure…" 

"Oh yes, very sure. The most sure I've ever been of anything in my life!"

* * *

Sanji was doing a really pathetic job of not hovering around the infirmary door when Usopp finally left the examination. He'd been pacing — Usopp had been able to hear it through the door, heel-toe-heel-toe with Sanji's specially reinforced shoes — and the smell of smoke clung thickly on him, as it always did when he was in rut. Even with Chopper's custom-compounded suppressants keeping him functional around the rest of the crew, Sanji's ruts still hit him hard, and this new wrinkle of Usopp's health had only increased the natural drive to protect and hover into a roaring compulsion to fret over every last little thing. 

"Well?" A bright blue eye shone with ill-disguised anxiety as Usopp closed the door behind him. "What did he say?" 

"I'm not sick," Usopp said immediately — he'd been pretty sure of that himself before he went in, but a fever was always a possibility and he knew Sanji had been tying himself in knots over the thought. "And I'm not presenting as anything." 

"Good. But what _is_ it then?" Usopp hadn't taken more than two steps into the mess before Sanji tugged him close, nosing into his hair and scenting him. Clingy rutty alpha that he was, it did feel awfully good, and Usopp sank into that hold immediately. 

"Beats me. He's gonna look through his books and see if he can find anything. But for the moment…" Usopp reached up and hooked a hand around the back of Sanji's neck, rubbing a tiny circle at the base of his skull. "You need a little relief, don't you? Let me take care of you for a change." 

Sanji's visible eye had gone hazy-gazed and unfocused with that touch — yep, that was rut all right. He would never be as over-the-top effusive with Usopp as he was toward women, and Usopp had long since accepted that and learned to enjoy these smaller, but no less meaningful, displays of enjoyment and caring. And when he was all hormone-d up, even Usopp could work him like putty.

* * *

"Wait, wait, _pseudo_ -heat? You mean, because I'm spending so much time around Sanji, my body is assuming it's _supposed_ to be an omega even though I'm not?" Usopp stared at Chopper for a long moment, as though the little reindeer was the source of his biological betrayal, rather than merely the messenger. "How is that even possible?" He wheeled on Sanji, who was leaning against the wall and frowning in concern. "So this is all your fault!" 

"It isn't like Sanji is doing it on purpose!" Chopper hastily explained, taking Usopp's teasing accusation at face value. "It's just hormone reactions! You two are — um — close, and hormone cycles tend to move into alignment, and…" 

"If you want me to leave you alone when I'm in rut, I will," Sanji broke in, apparently _also_ taking the accusation at face value. "I can isolate if I need to. The mossball does it during his heats, after all." Usopp groaned inwardly. Usually something like that would be the spur for a little playful bickering, but a rutty Sanji was a clingy Sanji, and more ready than usual to try and sacrifice his own happiness for others. 

"Don't be silly," he said. "Who's going to feed us all if you lock yourself in the pantry or whatever? And you're not _that_ bad, even in rut. Don't leave us to feed ourselves, okay?" 

"Okay." Sanji still looked like he was contemplating something noble and self-sacrificing and stupid. Usopp repressed a sigh and looked back at Chopper. "So is this just my life now? Sanji goes into rut and I get a pseudo-heat?" 

"It's likely to continue as long as you two stay close," Chopper confirmed ruefully. "I can try giving you some suppressants if it's a bother, but I'm not sure they'll work properly since you aren't actually an omega." 

Of course that was going to be the answer. No suppressants, no reprieve, just weird feverish heat-ish thing and a hormonally sulky boyfriend. This was all just his luck.


End file.
